BEST OF NORTHUMBERLAND AWARDS: Judges Special Award

Best of Northumberland awards 2014 at Alnwick Garden'Gordon Webster of Aid for Aidan accepts the judges special award from Paul Larkin.

Published:12:47Thursday 25 September 2014

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One particular nomination stood out so much that the judges added a special award to highlight its outstanding work.

Presented by Northumberland Gazette and Morpeth Herald editor Paul Larkin, the Judges’ Special Award was given to Gordon Webster, from the Aid for Aidan campaign.

The campaign, spearheaded by Gordon from Alnwick’s MKM building supplies, has seen a dilapidated house, which needed completely renovating, made into a home for little Aidan Jackowiak Smith.

Aidan has Cloves Syndrome. He has swelling to his back, neck and face and suffers from seizures. His condition is so rare that only 130 people in the world have been diagnosed with it.

Parents Vicki and Karl realised their home in Shilbottle was not suitable for Aidan’s needs so bought a house at Fire Station Cottages in Alnwick, but it needed a lot of work, including rewiring, a new kitchen and clearing the overgrown garden.

Karl was going to do the work himself, as well as caring for his son full-time.

So the Northumberland Gazette teamed up with Gordon and launched a call to arms in a DIY SOS-style appeal.

The response was huge, with offers of support from all over the North East, but it was Gordon who received the biggest praise, for his tireless efforts in getting the work done in just two months.

Gordon said: “There is only one reason I did this, I met the family and I saw how much love there was in that family and I wanted to do something to help.

“When I look at my own family and ever think we have problems, it is nothing compared to them.